Proof that for this system, the move to hybrid is more for show and public perception that genuine concern for the environment. If it were the latter of those two, they would have just grabbed some masking tape and black paint.

This is the problem with the industry as a whole. Everytime there is a bus in the media it is usually bad, children being left on the bus, accident, etc. This is something positve for the district and a chance to promote yourself and what GOOD things happen and they are not allowed. Does it really matter what color they are, the rubrail provides protection regardless of color. Some states only have yellow, and they have as good a safety record as black.

This industry needs to realize that we do far more good than bad and we should promote those positives whenever we can.

They'd really be in trouble in New Jersey whose school bus code specifies black rub rails and black bumpers ONLY. I do remember before the adoption of the current code seeing rub rails that hadn't been painted over (meaning yellow) and white front bumpers...

You got to draw the line somewhere as far as what a school bus looks like. It would seem to indicate that the hybrid bus is more for feel good, get a grant, public perception, going green points than about functional efficiency. I mean why aren't the bumpers and door handles on my Prius green?

Point taken, but putting a fleet OUT OF SERVICE because of the COLOR OF THE RUB RAILS???? Why not give the buses a "conditional pass," meaning that they have X amount of time to repaint them or get the regulation changed/obtain a waiver. Doesn't that make more sense than "grounding" a whole fleet because of a strip of color on the sides??? And yes, hybrid buses are more of a feel-good measure anyway! The cost to maintain and repair them, I'm guessing, will greatly outweigh the fuel savings garnered. It's still too early to tell. And don't even get me started on E-85 fuel, and all-electric vehicles! But...this from the state that requires the driver to get out of the bus to cross kids....

If the state has laws saying that the school bus rub-rails have to be a specific color, those laws need to be followed. I'm all for originality, but I don't think school districts need to start putting green all over buses and turn them into advertisements for the hybrid industry.

Also for those who are against this being enforced, they have to draw the line somewhere. School buses are specific colors so that the public can recognize these vehicles as buses transporting school children. When we start to deviate too much from that, that is when problems are going to start. Maybe it was "too much" for the state to pull all the buses out of service, but they should have considered the state requirements for school buses when they ordered them.

Maybe I'll offer to fly out and fix the problem for the reasonable price of $650 per bus (since obviously sticker shock doesn't effect this outfit). It will take an hour per bus if they want it done right, 20 minutes if they don't mind overspray and runs, about five minutes if they want the ole gasoline and a match remedy.